Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for synchronizing scan opportunities in a mobile communications system comprising the steps of: sending time slots between a mobile subscriber and an associated base station wherein the mobile subscriber has a corresponding scan group; counting the number of time slots sent between the mobile subscriber and the associated base station; and determining whether it is a scan opportunity based upon the count, the scan group of the mobile subscriber, a scan rate, and a scan opportunity divisor and if it is a scan opportunity, then performing a scan of a neighboring base station.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the count is associated with a number of frames where one frame is a plurality of time slots.
3. The method of claim 1 where the step of performing a scan is performed by the mobile subscriber.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the scan rate is a number of scan groups in the mobile communications system.
5. The method of claim 1 where the scan group is based upon the characteristics of the mobile subscribers of the mobile communications system.
6. The method of claim 1 where the step of determining further comprises evaluating the following equation for the scan opportunity Count - Scan Group % Scan Variable Scan Opportunity Divisor .
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the scan group of the mobile subscriber is based upon a subscriber access code.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the scan group is a grouping of mobile subscribers requiring a similar scan time.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the grouping is based upon characteristics of the mobile subscribers including hardware and software of the mobile subscriber.
10. A system for synchronizing scan opportunities in a mobile communications system comprising: an associated base station configured to keep a first count of a number of time slots sent between the base station and a mobile subscriber; the mobile subscriber configured to receive communications from the associated base station and configured to keep a second count of a number of time slots sent between the base station and the mobile subscriber; a processor for determining a scan opportunity based upon the first count and the second count, a scan group of the mobile subscriber, a scan rate, and a scan opportunity divisor, wherein the mobile subscriber scans to a neighboring base station on a scan opportunity.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the first count and the second count are associated with a number of frames where one frame is a plurality of time slots.
12. The system of claim 10 where the processor evaluates the following equation for the scan opportunity Count - Scan Group % Scan Variable Scan Opportunity Divisor .
13. The system of claim 10 wherein the scan group of the mobile subscriber is based upon a subscriber access code.
14. The system claim 10 wherein the scan group is a grouping of mobile subscribers requiring a similar scan time.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein the grouping is based upon characteristics of the mobile subscribers including hardware and software of the mobile subscriber.
16. A system for synchronizing scan opportunities in a mobile communications system comprising: means for sending time slots between a mobile subscriber and an associated base station wherein the mobile subscriber has a corresponding scan group; means for counting the number of time slots sent between the mobile subscriber and the associated base station; and means for determining whether it is a scan opportunity based upon the count of frames, the scan group of the mobile subscriber, a scan rate, and a scan opportunity divisor.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein the count is associated with a number of frames where one frame is a plurality of time slots.
18. The system of claim 16 where the means for determining evaluates the following equation for the scan opportunity Count - Scan Group % Scan Variable Scan Opportunity Divisor .
19. The system of claim 16 wherein the scan group of the mobile subscriber is based upon a subscriber access code.
20. The system of claim 16 wherein the scan group is a grouping of mobile subscribers requiring a similar scan time.
Unknown
August 22, 2006
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